The Galveston immigration records document the attempt of the Jewish Immigrant Information Bureau, working in cooperation
with several other Jewish organizations, to receive Jewish immgrants through the port of Galveston, Texas rather than New York City. The papers further describe the JIIB's efforts to resettle
the immigrants in communities throughout the United States. Papers include ship passenger lists, correspondence, and statistical reports, as well as papers dealing with individual immigration
cases.

In 1907, Jacob H. Schiff established the Galveston Immigration Plan. Schiff coordinated the Industrial Removal Office (IRO) in New York City, and the Jewish Territorial Organization (ITO) in
Great Britain, to send Jewish immigrants to the port of Galveston, Texas. The Jewish Immigrant Information Bureau (JIIB) was formed in 1907 as the branch of the IRO to receive these immigrants
in Galveston and send them to communities throughout the United States.

The IRO was established in 1901 by the United Hebrew Charities of New York, the B'nai B'rith, the Baron de Hirsch Fund, and other Jewish immigrant aid agencies. "Its central purpose was the
systematic diversion of Jewish immigrants, on an individual basis, to smaller Jewish communities throughout the United States."1 The IRO aimed to unburden the charity organizations in New York City by sending Jewish immigrants to other communities.

The JIIB, ITO, and the Hilfsverein der Deutschen Juden (Relief Organization of German Jews) worked together to bring Jews to Galveston. The JIIB advocated the use of the port at Galveston and
sent pamphlets to Europe to convince Russian Jews to come to the United States through the port of Galveston instead of New York City. The ITO helped the Jewish emigrants get from Russia to
Bremen, Germany, and from there, the Hilfsverein der Deutschen Juden cared for the Jewish emigrants and put them on ships for Galveston. Once the Jews got to Texas, the JIIB cared for them,
gave them money, and dispersed them throughout communities in the United States.2

The ITO was established in 1905 and was headed by Israel Zangwill. At first Zangwill resisted working with Schiff because he did not want to send Jews to countries in which they would be
assimilated.3 The Jewish Colonization Society (ICA) was financed by Baron de Hirsch to help Jews emigrate
from Europe. Schiff had hoped that the ITO would work in conjunction with the ICA to help brings Jews to Galveston but, "Zangwill was unwilling to cooperate with non-territorialists like the
ICA."4

In 1910, United States immigration officials were wary about the work of the JIIB and about the immigrants who were entering through Galveston. On June 23, 1910, thirty immigrants were
refused entry on the grounds that they had been, "induced or solicited to migrate to this country by offers of promise of employment."5 Through political and legal pressure the JIIB was able to convince the government officials to allow these immigrants into the country, and for the JIIB
to continue its work.

By 1914, the relationship among the different organizations had deteriorated and Jewish immigrants were no longer sent through Galveston. As well, it had been difficult to convince immigrants
to come through Texas instead of New York. In the end, over 10,000 Jews came through Galveston and were helped by the JIIB.6 After 1914, the office in Galveston still functioned as a branch of the IRO to help Jewish immigrants who had already been brought over to America
through the Galveston Immigration Plan.

The Galveston Immigration Plan records comprise material from the office of the Jewish Immigrant Information Bureau (JIIB) in Galveston, Texas. The bulk of the material is correspondence
between members of the Bureau, national Jewish organizations, and international Jewish organizations. Correspondents include Jacob H. Schiff, Rabbi Henry Cohen, Morris D. Waldman, David
Bressler, L. Greenberg, Max Kohler, Cyrus Sulzberger, William S. Bennett, Oscar S. Strauss, American Jewish Committee, Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, the Hilfsverein der Deutschen Juden
(Germany), the Jewish Territorial Organization (Great Britain), and the Juedische Emigrations-Gesellschaft (Russia). The records also consist of ship passenger lists to Galveston from Germany.
These lists include a wealth of names of Russian immigrants as well as statistical reports. Additional material includes business cards, newspaper clippings, reports, papers, telegrams and
minutes.

The collection was previously processed; original folder titles have been maintained whenever possible.

Access Restrictions

The collection is open to all researchers by permission of the Director of Collections and Engagement of the American Jewish Historical Society,
except items that are restricted due to their fragility.

Use Restrictions

Information concerning the literary rights may be obtained from the Executive Director of the American Jewish Historical Society. Users must apply in writing for permission to quote,
reproduce or otherwise publish manuscript materials found in this collection. American Jewish Historical Society, Center for Jewish History, 15 West 16th
Street, New York, NY 10011.

In 2000, a database was created from the JIIB records in Microsoft Access 2000, version 9.0. The database can be searched here.

What is included in the database:

The index includes names on the passenger lists filed in the JIIB office correspondence and citations to the source documents. Also included are citations to JIIB correspondence in which
individual immigrants are discussed.

What the fields mean:

Name: The immigrant's name as it appears on the source document. When there are variant spellings of a surname, a "see also" reference points to the alternative
spelling. If there are variant spellings of a first name, the variant spelling appears in parentheses.

Source: The type of document in which the name is found. The term "Group list" refers to a numbering system used by JIIB to identify each shipload of immigrants.
The term "Passenger list" refers to lists found within the JIIB correspondence. The term "Letter(s)" refers to correspondence that mentions individual immigrants.

Location: Where the source document is located in the collection. When requesting information on a particular name, please be sure to include both the Box and
Folder numbers.

*The creation of the databases was generously funded through a grant from The Jewish Genealogical Society of New York.

Digitization Note

Collection was digitized in its entirety by Adam Matthew Digital in 2010. The digitized material has been made available for research by the American Jewish Historical Society, on the folder level, in 2016.

Arrangement:

Arranged alphabetically by correspondence and chronologically within folders.

Scope and Content:

The bulk of these letters were written to and from Jacob H. Schiff (Schiff, Jacob H., 1914-1918; Box 1, Folders 7-10). Additional correspondence from the members of the Executive
Committee can also be found in Subseries B: General Correspondence.

Arrangement:

Arranged chronologically.

Scope and Content:

This subseries contains monthly immigration statistics that were sent between the office of the IRO in New York City and the JIIB. Included with these statistics are copies of ship
passenger lists of immigrants who came through Galveston from Germany. The bulk of the ship passenger lists in this collection, however, are found in Series II: External Correspondence
Hilfsverein der Deutschen Juden, Germany (Boxes 3-4, Folders 67-76, and OSF2). The term "Group Number" used in Subseries B: General Correspondence represents numbers given to different
ships that brought Jewish immigrants to Galveston.

Arrangement:

Arranged chronologically and consists of correspondence between the two men.

Scope and Content:

Among the issues discussed are engaging more territory, situations in communities currently employing immigrants and problems transporting immigrants by rail. The subseries includes
some ship passenger lists, statistics and budgets.

Languages included in the series are: English, Russian, German and
Yiddish.

1.25 linear ft. and 2 oversized folders

Arrangement:

The series is arranged alphabetically by folder and chronologically within folders.

Scope and Content:

This series comprises correspondence between the JIIB and national and international organizations and individuals who did not work directly for the JIIB and reflects work on behalf of
the JIIB to bring Jewish immigrants from Russia, through Germany, to the United States. The ship passenger lists in Hilfsverein der Deutschen Juden, Germany (Box 3, Folder 67; Box 4,
Folders 68-76, OSF2) provide a wealth of names of immigrants who came to America through the port of Galveston. Discussion of the fate of specific individuals can be found in General
Correspondence (Box 3, Folders 62-66) and in Jewish Charity Organizations (Box 4, Folders 77-83). State Mental Hospitals (Box 5, Folder 108-109) contains information on two Jewish
immigrants who became wards of the state in mental hospitals.

Series II: External Correspondence also contains correspondence between the JIIB and the ITO in Great Britain. (See Jewish Territorial Organization (Great Britain), Box 4, Folders 84-95).
The ITO correspondence includes letters from Israel Zangwill regarding work with the IRO the JIIB, and the ITO.

Arrangement:

It is arranged alphabetically by folder title.

Scope and Content:

This series includes minutes, newspaper clippings, business cards, papers, reports and statistics. Within this series are minutes and reports of organizations that members of the JIIB
were involved with such as the Ellis Island Committee (Box 5, Folders 114-115), the Galveston Committee (Box 5, Folders 116-117), and the National Jewish Immigration Council (Box 5, Folder
119). Also included in this series are papers written in response to the deportation of Jews from the port of Galveston, Texas in 1910 (Deportation Appeal, Box 5, Folder 113). This series
also contains important statistics, compiled by the JIIB, of the number of Jews that came through Galveston during the first year of the Galveston Plan (Removal Statistics, Box 5, Folders
121-122). There are no names associated with these statistics, and no names of Jewish immigrants in this series.